A central pledge contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to ensure that no one is left behind.

Many people continue to confront barriers that prevent them from fully participating in economic, social and political life. These include women, children, youth, indigenous peoples, older persons, persons with disabilities, migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons. They often experience discrimination and exclusion, and as a result, suffer from worse health and education outcomes, face disadvantages in access to the labour market and experience poverty at disproportionately high rates. In every group, women and girls often experience greater disadvantages: reducing gender disparities is essential to leaving no one behind.

The experiences of certain countries show that it is possible to make significant advances towards
leaving no one behind in relatively short periods of time. However, current trends do not point to a
degree or speed of advance compatible to leaving no one behind within the time frame of the 2030
Agenda, including the trends in poverty (particularly in rural areas and low-income countries in subSaharan
Africa), education and housing.

A generalized shift towards a development that leaves no one behind requires the transformation of
deeply rooted systems – including some economic and political systems and business models – that
are often based on unequal distributions of wealth and decision-making power. And to leave no
country behind, international action must be coherent and support, rather than hinder, countries’
capacity to enact and finance their development strategies.

This session will capture the messages from the earlier sessions of the HLPF sessions with a view to
synthesize the messages that respond to the challenge of fulfilling the promise of leaving no one
behind. By engaging all stakeholders, integrating policies, strengthening global partnerships for
sustainable development, and mobilizing the means of implementation needed to achieve the 2030
Agenda, the SDGs will be realized for all.

Proposed guiding questions:

Where are we in terms of achieving the overall objectives of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs
for all people?

In which areas is progress most uneven and where are the greatest number of people being
left behind?

Who are the furthest behind and are we managing to build the resilience and improve the lives of
those people?

What have we learned on how best to improve the lives of the furthest behind?

Chair:

H.E. Ms. Marie Chatardová, President of Economic and Social Council

Keynote speaker:

Mr. Andrew Gilmour, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

H.E. Ms. Marie Chatardová is the Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations, Co-Chair of the 2019 Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for the Sustainable Development Goals.

As moderator of the 2019 HLPF in the session of “Report of the STI Forum”, until her appointment in 2016, Ms. Chatardová was her country’s Ambassador to France and Monaco, and its Permanent Representative to the International Organization of la Francophonie. Between 2013 and 2016, she also served as Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). A career diplomat, Ms. Chatardová held several positions within the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. She was Director of Diplomatic Protocol from 2007 to 2010, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Sweden from 2002 to 2007. Prior to that, she was Director of the Communications Strategies Department, from 2000 to 2002, and Unit Chief of the Department for the Coordination of Relations with the European Union, between 1999 and 2000. She also served in the Permanent Mission of Czech Republic to the European Union, between 1995 and 1999, and in the Ministry’s Department of Analysis and Policy Planning, from 1994 to 1995. Ms. Chatardová was awarded Commander of the National Order of the Legion of Honor of France in 2016, and Officer of the Order of Saint-Charles of Monaco in 2016. Ms. Chatardová holds a Doctor of Law from Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic.

Manish Bapna is the executive vice president and managing director of the World Resources Institute, a global research organization that works to address six urgent sustainability challenges: food, forests, water, climate, energy and cities. He served as WRI’s acting president from 2011-2012. Before joining WRI in 2007, Manish was executive director of the non-profit Bank Information Centre (BIC).

Executive Secretary of ECLAC and coordinator of the Regional Commissions

On 13 May 2008, the United Nations Secretary-General announced the appointment of Alicia Bárcena Ibarra of Mexico as Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Ms. Bárcena Ibarra, who assumed her new position on 1 July 2008, replaced Mr. José Luis Machinea of Argentina.

Ms. Bárcena Ibarra served as the Chef de Cabinet to the former Secretary-General before serving as the Under-Secretary-General for Management.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Bárcena Ibarra served as Deputy Executive Secretary of ECLAC, and in this capacity she contributed substantively and increased interagency collaboration to provide a regional perspective on the Millennium Development Goals and on Financing for Sustainable Development, connecting issues of inequality, poverty, economic development and sustainability with the required fiscal policies needed to address extreme poverty.

As Chief of the Environment and Human Settlements Division of ECLAC, she heightened the profile of the Regional Commission in the areas of climate change, sustainable energy, fiscal policies and environment. She previously served as Coordinator of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), as well as Adviser to the Latin American and Caribbean Sustainable Development Programme in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

She was part of the Secretariat that was in charge of preparing the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. She was Principal Officer in charge of various topics related to Agenda 21 and was also the Founding Director of the Earth Council in Costa Rica.

Previously, she served in the Government of Mexico as the first Vice-Minister of Ecology and as Director-General of the National Institute of Fisheries.

In the academic arena, Ms. Bárcena Ibarra was the Director of the South-East Regional Centre of the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones sobre Recursos Bióticos in the State of Yucatán, working closely with the Mayan communities. She has taught and researched on natural sciences, mostly on botany, ethnobotany and ecology. She has published a number of articles on sustainable development, namely on financing, public policies, environment and public participation.

Ms. Bárcena Ibarra holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University.

Ms. Riitta Oksanen is the Deputy Director General at the Department for Development Policy in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland. Deputy DG Oksanen has previously worked at the Department as an Advisor, and in Finland’s Permanent EU Delegation as Counsellor responsible for EU development policy and cooperation. She chaired the Council’s working group on development cooperation during the Finnish EU Presidency in 2006. Before joining the policy department again in September 2017, she worked for 7 years as a Senior Advisor on development evaluation focusing on development of evaluation capacity and evaluation systems. Deputy DG Oksanen represented the Ministry in international initiatives aiming at stronger national evaluation systems in the partner countries in the global South. She was the President of the European Evaluation Society (EES) 2016-2017. Before joining the Ministry in 1999, she worked as a consultant specializing in planning, management and evaluation of development cooperation. Ms. Oksanen has a degree from the University of Helsinki specializing in marketing, business administration and economics applied to forestry sector. She is also a qualified adult educator.

Professor of International Affairs at The New School, and Member of the UN Committee for Development Policy

Sakiko Fukuda-Parr is the Director of the Julien J. Studley Graduate Programs in International Affairs and Professor of International Affairs at The New School. Her teaching and research have focused on human rights and development, global health, and global goal setting and governance by indicators. From 1995 to 2004, she was lead author and director of the UNDP Human Development Reports. Her recent publications include: Millennium Development Goals: Ideas, Interests and Influence (Routledge 2017); Fulfilling Social and Economic Rights (with T. Lawson-Remer and S. Randolph, Oxford 2015), winner of the American Political Science Association’s 2016 Best Book in Human Rights Scholarship and the 2019 Grawemeyer Prize for Ideas to Improve the World Order.

Fukuda-Parr contributes actively to international policy and research processes. Most recent appointments include the UN Committee on Development Policy as Vice Chair, the Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Access to Medicines and Innovation, and Boards of Knowledge Ecology International and International Association for Feminist Economics. She directs the Independent Panel on Global Governance for Health at the University of Oslo, and also serves as Distinguished Fellow at the JICA Research Institute, Tokyo.

Sophie was appointed as the first Future Generations Commissioner for Wales in February 2016. Her role is to act as a guardian for the interests of future generations in Wales, and to support the public bodies listed in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 to work towards achieving the well-being goals.

Prior to this role, Sophie was the first Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales and the only woman in a police commissioner leadership role in Wales. In this role, she led programmes to tackle violent crime and violence against women and girls, focusing on early intervention and partnership working particularly with health. She reformed programmes on substance misuse and offender management and led a review of women in policing as well the Force's work to increase recruitment of black and monitory ethnic officers and staff.

Sophie served as a Government Special Adviser from 2009-2013 providing policy and political advice on communities, local government, community safety, housing, regeneration and equality to the Cabinet and First Minister.

With a background in equality and diversity having managed the legal department in the Equal Opportunities Commission and subsequently as a policy adviser in the Equality and Human Right Commission, Sophie chaired and wrote the report of the Councillors Commission Expert Panel on increasing diversity in Local Government.

Sophie served as a County councillor in Cardiff - having been elected at the age of 21 she became the youngest Councillor in Wales. During her nine years as a Councillor she was Deputy Leader of the Opposition for a period, as well as a member of the Children and Young People Scrutiny and planning Committees.

She is currently a member of the Wales Committee of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and is Chair of the international Network of Institutions for Future Generations. She lives in Cardiff with her husband Ceri and their five children.

Sylvia is a successful analyst, communicator, author and advocate, with a track record in high level policy analysis, public affairs and political relations on the topics of inclusive social development, global ageing, social policy, social protection, gender, inclusion, and human rights. Formerly Head of Strategic Alliances at HelpAge Sylvia was the international policy lead for the 2008 revision of the African Union Social Policy Framework, co-manager with the UNFPA of the global publication ‘Ageing in the 21st Century, a celebration and a challenge’, and developed the 2013-5 editions of the Global Age Watch Index. Sylvia is the founder of the Stakeholder Group on Ageing, which represents the community of ageing on SDGs at the United Nations. She was one of five civil society representatives selected to speak at the 2015 UN General Assembly. Recent commissions include ‘Ageing and the SDGS’ for the UNDP and ‘Gender and the SDGs’ as a background paper to UN Women's 2018 SDG report. Sylvia is Director of BealesGelber Consult, a distinguished ‘Fellow’ of the International Council of Social Welfare, advisor to Widows for Peace and Democracy, member of and Strategic Advisor to Gray Panthers, and Strategic Partnerships Adviser to the Africa Platform for Social Protection.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz was appointed as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples by the Human Rights Council in 2014.

In the fulfilment of her mandate, she conducts fact-finding missions and reports on the human rights situation in specific countries, addresses cases of alleged violations of the rights of indigenous peoples through communications with Governments and others, promotes good practices to implement international standards concerning the rights of indigenous peoples and conducts thematic studies on topics of special importance to the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples.

She is an indigenous leader from the Kankana-ey Igorot people of the Cordillera Region in the Philippines. As an indigenous activist, she has worked for over three decades on building movement among indigenous peoples and as an advocate for women's rights.

Ms. Tauli-Corpuz is the former Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2005-2010) has served as the chairperson-rapporteur of the Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations. As an indigenous leader, she was actively engaged in drafting and adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. She has founded and managed various NGOs involved in social awareness raising, climate change and the advancement of indigenous peoples' and women's rights and she is a member of United Nations Development Programme Civil Society Organizations Advisory Committee.

In her capacity as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Ms. Tauli-Corpuz has provided expert testimony before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and policy advice to inter alia the World Bank and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).